CHAPTER 53: CHAPTER 53: HENRY PRESTON IS MY NEMESIS

"Mom, don’t worry. What if I turn out to be a business genius?" I’m not sure if I’m comforting my mom or myself.

Anyway, my mom was amused. She said, "No matter what you decide, your dad and I support you. You’re our only child, as long as you’re happy."

Was I out of my mind in my past life? With such great parents and such a solid financial foundation, I had to cling to Henry Preston and end up like that.

If my head could move more freely, I’d give my mom a big hug.

After keeping me company for a while, my mom said she would go home to make sticky rice chicken for me. I was really craving it and quickly agreed. After she left, Crystal Dawson, Tiana O’Connell, and Leah Lane came rushing over.

Seeing my head wrapped in bandages, they were all extremely concerned. "Zoe, how are you? Does your head still hurt?"

"Which bastard hit you? I’ll go and give them a taste of their own medicine!"

"How long until you can be discharged?"

Listening to their chatter made me really happy. Despite being injured, having a group of people who love and care about me makes life feel truly wonderful.

"I’m fine, just a concussion. I’m currently working at The Preston Group, right? I was with Henry Preston discussing the demolition of a residential area near Erhua. Apparently, that representative and Henry didn’t reach an agreement, and someone took it out on me." I explained the situation.

Crystal Dawson placed some nutritional products on the cabinet, then started to rant, "Damn, is Henry Preston a jinx for you? You used to be his number one fan, and now even when you’re not, you still got a job at his company, and now this. I think you should just divorce him!"

Tiana O’Connell agreed wholeheartedly, "Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard that if two people’s horoscopes clash, they’ll bring misfortune to each other. Whoever’s is stronger would prevail."

"Then Henry’s horoscope must be pretty strong," I sighed and quickly asked Leah Lane, "Yara, how come you’re here? Did you go to The Preston Group?"

Leah Lane shook her head, "I didn’t go, I sent my mom instead."

I was initially surprised, then showed an admiring expression. Brilliant!

The plan was to have Leah Lane cause a scene at The Preston Group with the evidence I took of Connor Hawthorne’s affair, causing a significant negative impact, leading to Connor being dismissed during his probation period. That would leave him with nothing.

But Leah Lane’s decision to send her mom was actually better.

Leah angrily said, "After my mom tore into him, Connor had the nerve to call me and spew a bunch of nonsense!"

"What did he say? How did you respond?" I curiously asked.

"He said he was wrong and hoped I’d forgive him, that bastard!" Leah answered, "So I told him I loved him dearly and was willing to forgive him. Plus, I had a little personal savings and could accompany him back home to develop, but my parents insisted we break up, so I had no choice."

As soon as Leah finished speaking, Crystal Dawson, Tiana O’Connell, and I all burst out laughing. She’s really clever.

This way, Connor won’t even have a reason to cause a fuss, and his standards for future girlfriends would be much higher. Where would he find another woman who loves him and is wealthy? He will always remember how well Leah treated him, but he didn’t cherish it and lost everything instead.

They stayed and chatted with me for a while before leaving. Bored, I picked up a mobile game to play, but as the levels became more challenging, I started getting hooked.

"I’m so frustrated!" I failed twelve times and was just about to smash my phone.

"Is the phone bothering you?" Ivan Underwood appeared at the door, wearing a white coat and a mask, revealing just his attractive eyebrows and eyes, cool and handsome.

Seeing him calmed me down halfway. I gently placed the phone down and said, "No, just stretching."

Ivan let out a small hum, seemingly not very convinced of my excuse.

He came in, glanced at the pile of nutritional products, and even sifted through them. There was ginseng, honey, caterpillar fungus, and goji berries. When he saw the vodka, he frowned, "Crystal Dawson’s doing?"

Aside from her, I couldn’t imagine anyone else sending vodka as a health supplement.

I hadn’t checked what these supplements were, and I didn’t dare turn my head too much, so I just nodded dismissively, "Yeah, it was her."

Ivan silently put down the gift box and then asked, "How did you get hurt?"

This is the third time I’ve explained the injury.

But talking to Ivan, I explained in more detail, like how Azure Vaughn lived near Erhua and her father, Walter Vaughn, was the man negotiating with Henry.

"Do you think it was because Azure contacted him, so he personally went to negotiate today?" Ivan asked again.

"Well, what else?" I replied, "Don’t you think this is a great chance for Henry to win over Azure? He set the stage, and he’s the one to resolve it. If I were Azure, I’d be head over heels!"

It’s true, if I were Azure, I couldn’t resist a rich, handsome man who’d go to such lengths for me, willing to divorce his politically connected wife to marry me. Only if I weren’t thinking straight, would I refuse.

Whenever Ivan saw my nonchalant attitude towards Walter, a hint of doubt would flash in his eyes but quickly disappear.

"You’re not Azure," he suddenly leaned down, poking the bandage on my head with his finger, a hint of appreciation in his expression, "Not bad, for looking so skinny, like you’re malnourished, you’re surprisingly resilient."

"?" I didn’t understand what he meant.

"With a moderate concussion, most people exhibit typical symptoms, like dizziness, vomiting, even retrograde amnesia, and in more serious cases, transient paralysis or seizures. You just fainted for a while," Ivan explained.

I was truly exasperated. Was he here to see if I’m not doing that badly?

Just as we were talking, Henry Preston showed up again. When he saw Ivan by my bedside chatting with me, a subtle hint of displeasure crossed his face.

"You’re here." Seeing Henry, Ivan calmly greeted him, "I’ll go get busy."

"Hmm." Henry responded indifferently, only putting down the food he brought after Ivan left. "What were you talking about? Did you discuss your heart issues?"

I blurted out, "What’s wrong with my heart?"

The next second, I noticed Henry’s face darken quickly, and his gaze became sharp. "Is your heart doing well?"

Oh no, my heart sank. Ivan must have told Henry about my heart discomfort to rationalize our interactions as discussing medical issues.

"It’s okay, just sometimes when I wasn’t getting enough rest, I’d feel some chest pains, I thought it was a heart problem, so I asked Dr. Underwood about it several times!" I quickly covered it up.